Khalsa Ji,
Sat Shri Akaal!
Just finished the translation of Prof. Inder Singh Ghagga's article on Sant Maskeen.
Was Giani Sant Singh Maskeen "Vidya Maartand" and "Brahm Giani"?
(Author: Prof. Inder Singh Ghagga, translated from
original Punjabi text by Akashdeep Singh Aulakh)
Vocabulary: -
Vidya Martand = Sun of Knowledge
Brahm Giani = He who knows the truth of the universe, he is the creator of the universe, he is formless, yet he is present in every form on this earth. (Shri Sukhmani Sahib)
Gurmat = the ideology/intelligence given by Sikh spiritual gurus, the Sikh faith.
Bhog = conclusion ceremony after Paath is complete.
Paath = the act of reading and understanding the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib.
If you keep Maskeen ji's lecture audios on one side and read Osho's (Rajneesh's) books first, you will feel it yourself that Giani Maskeen Ji exactly repeated Osho's words and scarcely talked about Sikh faith.
The management of one gurudwara in England imposed a restriction on Maskeen ji for his lectures in that gurudwara that he should talk only about Gurbani and Gurmat, and not Brahamanical fables and stories during his lecture in that Gurudwara. Maskeen Ji replied, "If you want me to talk only about Gurmat (the knowledge/instruction from the Sikh gurus) then first stop recording all the video films, I cannot talk just about Gurmat while being recorded". By getting recorded talking just about Gurmat, he did not want to disappoint his followers who adhere to Hinduism.
Against Gurmat, he often makes this claim that fairies come to listen to his lectures and are visible to Maskeen Ji only.
He is already considered to be a millionaire preacher, what good for Gurmat has been done by presenting his family with tens and tens of lakhs of rupees?
At the time of bhog, he was being promoted as "Brahm Giani" with the help of banners put on height. On the other hand, Gurbani only calls "Akaal Purakh" as Brahm Giani and mentions that Brahm Giani never dies.
He was a big fan of mythological gods, the carnal-lust idols of Khajuraho and the nudity ridden stories from the Dasam Granth and kept using Gurbani wrongly to prove the carnal-lust instigating stories that he used to tell.
Maskeen ji has written a book on Gurudwara Management and has distributed this book free of cost. In that book he mentions that the present Gurudwara Management is useless , and the solution that he mentions in the book is that the Gurudwara Management should be given back to "Nirmaliye". Maskeen ji got education from a "Nirmaliya" teacher and he himself is a follower of "Nirmaliya" sect and is a disciple of Baba Shri Chand. These Nirmalye were the people who spread the "Brahmani" beliefs in the Gurudwaras in the past. He talked about people but has never talked about Paanth (Sikh Paanth).
I would have never written this article, if I did not get chance to see the 7 hours of live telecast of Sant Maskeen ji's last rituals and tribute ceremonies on ETC TV channel. It is not possible for one to knowingly gulp a fly in the milk, in the tribute ceremony the following incomplete line from Gurbani was written in bold words in front of Guru Granth Sahib ji -
"Brahm Gyani sad jeeve nahi marta"
Watching and reading this shocked my mind and heart. This big blunder? The person who all his life kept speaking on the stages meant for preaching Gurmat, who earned his living by supposedly preaching Gurmat could not teach the essence of Gurbani to his family and his disciple and the likes of Ranjeet Singh Gohar who were managing these ceremonies?. The incomplete line mentioned above has been picked up from 8th ashtpadi of Shri Sukhmani Sahib and has been used by these people in a way to emphasize that Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen was "Brahm Giani" and he has not died but is alive because being a "Brahm Giani" he cannot die. Now kindly pay attention to the 8th ashtpadi from where the incomplete line mentioned above has been picked, and note who has been called "Brahm Giani" in Gurbani
Braham Giani sabh srishat ka karta ||
Braham Giani sad jeeve nahin marta ||
Braham Giani mukt jugat ka daata ||
Braham Giani pooran purakh bidhata ||
Braham Giani anaath ka naath ||
Braham Giani ka sabh upar haath ||
Braham Giani ka sagal aakaar ||
Braham Giani aap nirankaar ||
There are 7 other paudiyaans of this 8th ashtpadi but summarizing and understanding of just the 8th paudi removes all the doubts about who should be called Brahm Giani.
Sentence wise, brief meanings are as follows:-
1. Brahm Giani is he who has created this whole universe.
2. Brahm Giani always lives, he never dies.
3. Brahm Giani shows the way to salvation, shows the way to live life.
4. Brahm Giani is in truth the puran purakh (consummate), and the one who gives birth to all.
5. Brahm Giani helps the helpless.
6. Brahm Giani showers his blessings on everyone.
7. All visible forms/shape (the world, the universe, the nature) are images (embodiments) of Brahm Giani.
8. Brahm Giani is nobody else, but the Supreme Power (God) himself.
The world knows that since we live in human bodies we all are bound to die one day - all the saints and our own 10 reverent Gurus had to leave as well. Whoever has foolishly tried to convince people to call himself God, he has lost respect in the eyes of intelligent people. If the misuse of above mentioned line was being done by Maskeen ji's family only, it might have been a little less painful, but the preachers who have been taught by Maskeen ji did blunders against Gurbani as well. Extremely painful is the fact that when all these blunders were visibly and noticeably made in such ceremonies, all the 5 heads of our 5 Takhts were present there. The heads of Delhi Gurudwara Management Committee (DGMC) and Shiromani Gurudwara Management committee (SGPC) were all present there. There were other numerous preachers, honorable personalities present on this occasion and none of them could say a word till the end about this self created doctrine. Then should we simply drink this bitter pain and be calm that all these people don’t even have the slightest understanding of Gurbani, or should we think that these people have become so much coward that they could not dare to speak the truth? At least somebody could have said this at sometime, “Saad Sangat! This line means God (IkOnkar) himself, and God (IkOnkar) never dies. We all bodily organisms are bound to destruction.”
Now let’s consider some of the comments by the responsible people during the 2nd March 2005 tribute ceremony: -
Role model for Sikh society: Every invitee come on stage reiterated this again and again on the mike that Maskeen Ji was a role model for your life and were a source of inspiration for the Sikh Panth. Note that in today’s world our reverent “Guru Sahibaan” are seen no more as role models for the Sikh society, Gurbani is no more the source of inspiration for Sikhs.
Sun?: More trumpets of praise were blown on the stage, “Maskeen were like sun of knowledge, he was “Vidya Martand”, he was great Gurbani speaker (kathawachak)” Note that all other shining things do not have their own source of light rather they shine by reflecting the light from Sun. Sun is the only unique power which does not need to borrow light from somewhere else, the shine and heat is of its own. What Maskeen ji told the listeners (sangat), was that knowledge his own? The knowledgeable people from the Sikh society know that this “shine” of knowledge was from the great writers of our Gurbani. The treasure in the form of Gurbani given to us by our Gurus is the sun of knowledge for us. If we use the title of Sun for Maskeen ji, then what words should we us for our Guru Sahibaan? If anybody has doubt then please listen carefully Maskeen ji’s lectures and start reading Osho’s (Rajneesh’s) books. You will find word by word repetition other then a few exceptions here and there. And the difference that seems to be counting is that general Sikh population has not read Osho’s books.
Just repeated Osho’s words: Now if you call Maskeen ji great speaker of Gurbani, then please excuse me, in his 40 years of exposure to public he has not done preaching of Gurbani. If he has spoke of anything other then Osho’s words, they were the poems of Sheik Sadi, Meer, Daag, Mirza Ghalib and Faiz etc. In his 1 hour of lecture one will find very few lines from Gurbani and that too incomplete. He never spoke whole “shabad” from Gurbani. He never remained stationed at any place for 1 or 2 months to do continuous recitation of Gurbani. But yes, he adored the Dasam Granth which is full of obscene stories. He used to tell with great excitation the carnal act ridden stories from Dasam Granth.
After the death of the richest story-teller lakhs more were given from the religious funds: A check worth 50 thousand was given to Maskee ji’s wife as a help from the Delhi Gurudwara Management Committee. In addition to this, a promise was given of no interference in all those places which were in the possession of Maskeen ji’s family. Those properties belonged to the committee and hence were the public religious fund generated properties but were given away to Maskeen ji’s family. Forgetting all ancient scholars and brave Sikhs, the Delhi Gurudwara Management Committee’s head announced to start an award in the name of Maskeen ji. Perhaps these people have accepted Maskeen ji as greatest among all those ancient scholars and brave men.
Why so much attention for Maskeen ji?: Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) went one step ahead. In memory of Maskeen ji, Bhai Gurdaas award was declared. Reward of one lakh rupees was reserved for Maskeen ji’s wife. Ten lakh rupees were given to Maskeen ji’s family by SGPC right away ......
The Maskeen ji, whose 3 sons have settled businesses very well in foreign lands, he who had earned enormous money by selling audio cassettes of his lectures, by selling books and by delivering lectures, was given even more money. The money that public is faithfully donating in the Gurudwara’s is being wasted in acts like this; he who is already flourishing was given even more. There were no education centers being opened to train economically weaker Sikh youth in reading/reciting Gurbani rather Maskeen’s family, which was already playing in millions, was distributed with even more big gifts. These type of gifts were never given to the greats of the likes of Professor Sahib Singh, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, Dr. Ganda Singh, S. Narain Singh (Guru Nanak Mission, Patiala) and others. Why only Maskeen ji was given this great attention? ... It’s worth thinking.
Preaching against Gurmat: There are numerous examples of how Maskeen ji taught wrong meanings of Gurbani, how he told wrong meanings of Gurbani at his own will. Let’s consider a few examples:-
Naam and Kaam: - Sadly, in his one hour lecture Maskeen ji clearly represents Satguru ji as lover of “Kok Shastra” (ancient unscientific brahminic work). He used to do the blunder of picking incomplete lines from Gurbani for reasoning. He used to present carnal proofs using these. Note this line picked by him, “Baal kanya ko baap pyara....” (596) and now note his explanation, “A daughter loves her father, and a son loves his mother. Fathers love is more for daughter as compared to his love for son, a mothers love is more towards her son as compared to her love for daughter this is because there is deep attraction between opposite sexes” The place from where Maskeen ji has picked this incomplete line, there the actual subject was that of death, sex is not at all referred there. In reality the complete lines are:-
Mai baap ko beta neeka, samoorey chatur jawai ||
Baal kanniya ko baap piyara bhai ko ati bhai ||
Hukam bhaya bahur ghar chodya khinn mahi bhai parai ||
Fan of naked idols of Khajuraho: The nudity ridden carnal-lust instigating idols of the Khajuraho temple in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which were placed there by people who lost their way, are seen as Gurmat by Maskeen Ji. He has openly praised the nudity and the sculptures of these idols and has crossed all limits of morality by using Gurbani wrongfully to provide instances. He has also done the mean act of relating our Gurus with these idols. Our Gurbani has shown us path to live life with self-control. These idols which have been praised by Maskeen Ji break all limits of self-control and represent shameless acts to the public. Yours truly got a chance to see these idols at Khajuraho, the guide of that place was speaking of these indecent carnal-lust ridden idols in the same way as Maskeen ji and was representing them to be the work of great saints. The guide also mentioned that after seeing these idols for a while you will become peaceful and then go inside the temple and have the sight of the God. Yours truly apprehended the guide for his wrongful saying and asked, “You ignorant human! I am an old man of 58 years and watching these idols have made me uneasy and restless. It will take me at least a weak to get normal and peaceful again. What would have been the effect of watching these idols on the young people?” And our Maskeen ji visualized these idols in accordance with Gurmat.
Can a human become invisible?: In his stories Maskeen ji tells big lie that, “By reciting Naam human being can become as minute as an atom. He can then go anywhere he wants including Moon, Sun, or Stars in the flash of an eye. He can minimize or enlarge his body as much as he wants” For lines used for instance are the following: -
Parmanoo parjant aakaasheh deep loye sikhandaneh ||
Gachchen nain bharen Nanak, Nanak bina sadhoo na sidhtey ||
In reality, Guru Arjun Dev ji was well aware of the enormous strength of Atomic power. The lines above said by Guru Arjun Dev ji are saying that a human being can generate enormous power by understanding how Atoms work. Using this strength humans can travel very long distances in very short time. But the abundance of materials and super fast speeds will not be able to provide any happiness to humans, everlasting happiness can will only be achieved from Satguru ji’s orders.
Blind praise of Devi/Devtey: Maskeen ji has spoken of hours and hours in the praise of Raam, Krishan, Brahma and Vishnu. He has been promoting King Ram Chander as in ideal human being, has been praising limitlessly the ancient mythological gods. It is sad that he never remembered those who have been cut into pieces by saws, those innocents who have been hanged, those who had to live in jungles, the big and small Sikh holocausts etc. Hindus gods and goddesses were dear to him but in his entire life he did not describe any principle from the Gurbani.
He spread rumors himself that fairies come to listen to his lectures: On one hand Maskeen ji used to tell good things in his lectures, but on the other hand he used to tell unscientific mock able things very often. Recorded audios and videos are witness to my writing. One lie that he often used to tell on his stages is that, “Fairies and gods come to listen my lectures. They are not visible to anybody but just to me”. Maskeen ji had no regret to tell this one more lie that with faith in Naam a human can become bodyless and within a flash of an eye can go anywhere he wants to. In Maskeen ji’s own words, “I have seen these type of people”. I don’t know what which religion Maskeen ji had been serving with these kinds of lies? Why he himself could not become bodyless with the power of 40 – 50 years of his own Naam faith? Then there would have been no need for automobiles, planes and ships.
Our so called jathedars: What to expect from other to speak against the wrong doings when all 5 jathedars (leaders of 5 Takhats) were also present there. There were those jathedars who just 3 days ago were mud slinging each other, were ready to smash Paggs (turbans) of each other in front of ETC TV channel and our Guru Granth Sahib ji at Akal Takhat. Somebody was engulfed in bribery case, whereas some other was facing the charges of having 3 wives. The same Vedanti, with the connivance of other jathedars, declared Dhanwant Singh Saint not guilty. The government court of Gurdaspur declared this same Dhanwant Singh Saint guilty and pronounced 10 years jail with labor and also fined him with 10 thousand rupees. A jathedar charged with case of taking bribe questioned another jathedar Iqbal Singh (from Patna) for keeping 3 wives. Iqbal Singh raged out of Akal Takhat blaming Satguru ji. In the tribute ceremony of Maskeen ji, the same Iqbal Singh had again become “Singh Sahib” and was preaching people.
When Maskeen ji was bound by UK Gurudwara Management: The South Hall Gurudwara Management in UK bravely bounded Maskeen ji telling, “We want to listen Gurmat from you, we do not want to listen to self created stories less we have to cancel the program”. Maskeen Ji replied, "If you want me to talk only about Gurmat then first stop recording all the video films, I cannot talk just about Gurmat while being recorded". The cameras we shut down and he did very good preaching from Gurbani. With his TV channels programs he seemed to be more worried about pleasing his Hindu followers, and remained step motherly to Sikh philosophy. On these channels he was seen talking more about mythological Hindu gods and goddesses more and less about Guru Sahibaan.
Gurudwara Management to Nirmaliye: Maskeen ji has written a book on Gurudwara management and has distributed this book free of cost. In that book he mentions that the present Gurudwara management is useless, and the solution that he mentions in the book is that the Gurudwara Management should be given back to "Nirmaliye". Maskeen ji got education from a "Nirmaliya" teacher and he himself is a follower of "Nirmaliya" sect and is a disciple of Baba Shri Chand. These Nirmalye were the people who spread the "Brahmani" rituals in the Gurudwaras in the past. Maskeen ji talked about people but has never talked about Paanth (Sikh Paanth).
References:-
1.
POFESSOR INDER SINGH GHAGGA'S ARTICLES
2.
SSI Canada
